CYCLING: The 1996 world champion, Johan Museeuw of Belgium, is among 11 former cyclists and their associates who face charges in a court in Courtrai, Flanders, relating to banned performance-enchancing drugs, a prosecutor in the Belgian town said yesterday, reports William Fotheringham.
A formal request that Museeuw and the others face a court hearing will be made on October 11th, said Tom Janssens, a spokesman for the Courtrai prosecutors' office. Neither Museeuw nor the team that currently employs him as a public relations officer, Quickstep, was available for comment yesterday but the cyclist has denied all charges against him.
Museeuw is "accused of possession of the blood boosters erythropoietin and aranesp, and dexomethasone (a steroidal anti-inflammatory)", Janssens said yesterday.
Museeuw was banned in October 2004 for two years by the Belgian Cycling Federation for the use of performance-enhancing drugs but by then he had been retired for six months.
Museeuw's distinguished career included two victories in the season-long World Cup series and 13 wins in one-day Classic races.
He never tested positive during his 16-year career, calling into question the worth of the current drug-testing regime.
Guardian Service
EQUESTRIAN: Jessica Kurten won a car for finishing third in the Euroclassics final at Bremen yesterday, reports Grania Willis. Kurten had picked up a succession of placings, including a win with Quibell on Sunday at the German fixture, and was one of eight double clears in yesterday's final. Once again teamed up with Quibell, Kurten retired the mare against the clock when Ludger Beerbaum's target time of 35.59 proved out of reach.
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ATHLETICS: Barcelona has offered itself as a replacement for Madrid as a possible venue for the 2010 European Championships after the Spanish capital withdrew following its unsuccessful bid to hold the 2012 Olympics.
"The (EAA) European Athletics Association Council decided that the RFEA may substitute the city of Barcelona for Madrid," the EAA said yesterday. The evaluation procedure will start with Barcelona and the decision on the venue will be taken in April 2006.
MOTOR SPORT: Rain has forced BAR to put on hold an attempt to run a Formula One car faster than ever before. Water covered the track on the Bonneville Salt Flats in north-west Utah and forecasts suggested it would not evaporate before the scheduled running from October 5th-8th. Formula One's current racetrack speed record of 372kph was set by Juan Pablo Montoya.
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